


A very different ninja

by HackerPenguin



Series: Ninjala, I guess [4]
Category: Ninjala (Video Game)
Genre: Autism, Autistic Berecca, Autistic Ron, Autistic Van, Gen, featuring my headcanons i've been scared of sharing, ron's dignity gets absolutly destroyed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackerPenguin/pseuds/HackerPenguin
Summary: With the help of his friends, Van hopes to understand himself, learn to better navigate the world and, hopefully, accept himself for who he is.
Series: Ninjala, I guess [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1991413
Kudos: 1





	A very different ninja

"What does autistic mean? Is it a bad thing?"

Berecca froze in shock. Van was standing there with tears in his eyes. There were bruises covering his arms and face, with blood trickling out of several cuts and gashes. It was a such a heartbreaking sight and after seeing Ron's reaction, he was just as concerned as she was.

"Van! What happened? Did someone attack you?" He shouted, unable to mask the concern in his voice.

"I-I was trying to find you two, and t-then these other guys found me. They h-hit me and they s-said I'm not a real ninja 'cause I didn't fight back. Everything was hurting and I was too scared to do anything..." He couldn't get anymore out, and was sobbing so much he could barely breathe.

Searching through the ninja gum she had, Berecca had an idea that required a certain type. After only a few seconds, she found it. The Pop gum. Its special made it very useful in situations like this. After putting a piece in her mouth, she focused her energy into the gum's healing power.

The trio were quickly surrounded by a field of green, soothing energy. Van's bruises faded and the cuts sealed. The aura affected both her and Ron as well, lifting away their own stress and exaustion. "Do you feel a bit better now?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah. I asked you earlier and neither of you answered. Does autistic mean something bad?"

"No, it doesn't." Ron said, clearly confused. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I was doing some training and I heard some other ninjas talking. They said my name a couple of times, so I listened to their conversation, of course. I remember them saying something about me being weird and about how I don't fit in and then one of them called me an 'autistic idiot'. I didn't know what that word ment, so I asked Master Genryusai what it ment and he said I should ask you 'cause you'd know more about it then him..." he let out an uneasy sigh "So, what does it mean?"

Berecca and Ron looked at eachother, both unsure of what to say. They both knew it would be best to explain what autism is to Van. Either it would help him understand himself better or help him understand others.

"Autism is a mental condition. It's not necessarily good or bad. It just means your brain functions differently." Berecca said, nervously grabbing her arm.

"How does it make you different?"

She gave Ron that certain look, a more subtle way of saying _"Please take over. This is getting too awkward for me"_. He understood almost immediatly.

"Well, some autistic people can experience certain stimuili more or less intensely then neurotypical people do..." he stopped when he saw how confused Van looked. These were probably words he'd never heard before. "This means that you might find things like loud noises or bright lights really upsetting, for lack of a better word. And there's also stimming, which is basically doing certain, repetetive movements because they're calming." He thought for a moment "Then there's special interests, which are specific, intense interests, almost to the point of obsession-"

"Like your special interest in Sonic the hedgehog" Berecca remarked

Ron blushed when he heard that statement"...You agreed you wouldn't tell anyone." he said, trying unsucsessfully to hide how embarassing this was.

"I only told you. Van just happened to be here when I said it"

The young ninja chuckled, "Is that true?"

"Yeah, he's bought every game, every comic, watched every cartoon and you should see his collection of merch. It's honestly impressive." She said with a smirk.

"Berecca, please, stop talking..." Ron muttered, his blush growing.

"Did he even watch Sonic Underground?"

"Yep, all of it. It's pretty much all he's been talking about for the past week"

At this point, Ron's face flushed entirely crimson and he tried to hide his face in his hands, ".....Why are you doing this to me?"

"Oh, and you should've seen how mad he was about Sonic '06-"

Ron quickly tapped her on the shoulder "Anyway, back to our previous topic. Berecca, do you have anything to add?"

"Oh, well...uhh..." She struggled to articulate what she wanted to say. When put on the spot like this, she always had a rush of anxiety over not knowing what to say. "Well, there's other things, like poor memory or, uhh, not liking change...and then there's the mess that is understanding social norms, and sarcasm, and metaphors, and also having to deal with meltdowns, those aren't fun..."

"Can I ask a question?" Van mumbled.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"How do you and Ron know so much about this?"

They looked at each other, then back at him. "How d'you think we know? We're autistic!" Ron said.

"Oh, that makes sense...do you think I might be autistic?"

"Well, do you, like, relate to any of the things we just said?" Berecca said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Because if you do, you might want to ask your mom about getting a diagnosis. Trust me, having one will make your life at the academy much easier."

"Alright, I'll go call her right now!" Van shouted as he charged out of her room.

"Good luck" Ron yelled out into the hall.

As he closed the door, he glared at Berecca "Why did you bring up Sonic?"

"Hey, it's fun to embarass you. When you blush and get all flustered like that, it's pretty funny and kinda adorable"

"Adorable? Really?" He crossed his arms

"Yep, it is and I will absolutly do it again!"

"This is why I hang out with Jane. She doesn't do things like this..." he paused for a moment before sighing"...Who am I kidding? She would totally do that to me"

**Author's Note:**

> Behold! The fic I've wanted to write for a long time but was too scared to


End file.
